"That noble race and brave..."

After reading Lydia Sigourney’s poem “Indian Names” and William Apess’ “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man,” I noticed that both works centralize on the idea of the strength and prevalence of the Native American people in the wake of destruction and oppression on behalf of white Americans. Though the Native American people’s numbers were shrinking rapidly during this time due to disease, violence, and suffering, both Sigourney and Apess speak of a prevailing Native American presence despite these hardships. In Sigourney’s “Indian Names,” she expresses that though white settlers believe that they have overridden Native American culture with their own, it really isn’t the case, as Native American names for much of the nation’s mountains and rivers are still used. This can be interpreted as a message to white American settlers saying that though they believe themselves to be a dominant race of great strength to have built America, they did not build it alone. America was already a nation when the settlers arrived, just a very different one. The Native Americans were vitally important to the success of the colonists and their legacy remains reflected in the culture and natural monuments of America.

Apess’ also speaks of the strength and prevalence of his people in “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man.” Apess argues that Native Americans are also the children of God and that they are “men of talents” (641). He also asserts the prevalence and equality of his people with the white man by stating that though white settlers look down upon the American Indians because of their skin color, many are still choosing to select Native Americans as husbands and wives: “the whites have taken the liberty to choose my brethren, the Indians, hundreds and thousands of them, as partners in life” (644). The inclusion of this important fact in Apess’ address illustrates that Native Americans will continue to be a presence in America, despite white Americans’ efforts to extinguish them, and that white settlers recognize their value, as they are choosing to include them in their lineage.

The voices and statements made in these two selections remind me of Paula Gunn Allen’s poem “Pocahontas to Her English Husband, John Rolfe.” Allen also promotes the idea that the Native American’s were vital to the white settlers survival in America and that they are a people of great wisdom and strength, though they have endured great hardship on part of white colonists. This is especially reflected in the last stanza of Allen’s poem: “-and you,/ deceiver, whiteman, father of my son,/ survived, reaping wealth greater/ than any you had ever dreamed/ from what I taught you/ and from the wasting of my bones” (123).